Commercial crab fishing is labor intensive and dangerous work carried out in some the most extreme environments possible. For many years commercial fishing has topped the Bureau of Labor Statistics' list of jobs with the most fatalities—and crabbing in Alaskan waters is by far the most lethal form of fishing. The coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands often endure temperatures that are well below freezing and seas that are very rough. These conditions combined with the heavy equipment used to commercially fish for crab compound the dangers that commercial fishermen encounter when crabbing. Unlike the crab pots used by weekend pleasure boaters, a large commercial crab pot is generally 7 feet by 8 feet and weighs about 800-pounds empty.
A typical crab fishing expedition launches off the coast of Alaska and travels to a desired crabbing ground. At the desired ground each of the extremely large, heavy pots are hoisted by a crane onto a pot launcher where a deckhand baits the pot. After the pot is baited, the pot launcher then tilts the pot over the ship's gunnel to allow the pot to drop into the ocean. The crane is operated by a deckhand who maneuvers the end of the crane close to the pot to be hoisted. Another deckhand then attaches the desired pot to the crane by hand with a rope or hook. Often this deckhand must climb other pots to be able to do this. When the deck of the vessel is pitching from stormy seas and/or the pots are covered in ice, climbing the pots and fastening one of them to the crane can be very dangerous.
Similarly, storing each of the pots on deck after fishing for crab, exposes deckhands to very dangerous conditions. In addition to reversing the loading process discussed in the previous paragraph, the deckhand secures the recently positioned pot to other pots already positioned (stacked) on the deck for storage. The pots are often stacked four or five high and to secure the pot to the stack the deckhand typically ties the pot to the adjacent pot in a couple locations. Doing this while the deck is pitching in sub-zero temperatures and the crane is positioning the next pot for storage further exposes the deckhand to a very dangerous condition.